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Physics students dress for success

From swarms of racecar drivers to masses of Revolutionary War soldiers and the Blues Brothers running around, the softball launch is home to different characters.

The football field transformed to a home full of soccer referees and other personalities ready to launch softballs.

Every year, the physics’ softball launch gives students the opportunity to build catapults and launch softballs out of them. The students take this event to the next level, dressing up in elaborate costumes and decorating the cannon.

“We put togas on, we had wallabees, we had straw hats, the shades rocking, indoors and outdoors,” senior Animal House group member Adam Kawamato said. “We were going for the frat look and that’s basically what the frat look is.”

The students participating in the launch looked forward to dressing up and coming up with a theme for the project.

“I think how people really committed to their themes and had fun made it more of an activity than a project,” junior Redneck team member Tal Wanish said.

As the teams began to shoot of projectiles, a crowd began to build in the stands, cheering for each team and their theme.

“The goddess theme was my favorite. I just thought it was interesting and that they really out that theme together well for the launch,” sophomore Brittnay Wright said.

The team theme makes up a portion of the grade and teams get extra points if their theme Aswins a top spot as best theme. Because of this, teams take the theme seriously.

“We went all over downtown, looking in Army and Navy stores, we couldn’t find anything affordable, so we bought all of the materials and made everything ourselves,” senior Revolutionary War group member Chris Dickey said. “That helped us make our theme more personalized.”

Aside from just physics classes participating in the launch, classes were allowed to come out to watch each team launch. From the stands students began to hatch their own ideas as to what their theme may have been.

“I would choose something powerful and strong like superwoman if I participated,” Brittnay said. “I would want it to show the power of my catapult.”

The launch has been a student favorite for a while. Students look forward to dressing up in funny costumes and shooting catapults.

“It makes it more fun, it makes it more interesting,” Adam said. “You get to work with the group, it’s fun to decorate your catapult.”

The theme is one of the most important parts of the launch to some students. Some students take it more seriously than actually building the launcher.

“We spent more time on the theme than we did with the cannon. We had already built cannons before and it was real quick,” Chris said. “[The theme] made us work as a team more, we spent more time and it’s just more fun to get involved.”